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New Scientist Live

Green fund pledges at G20 may herald climate consensus

By Michael Slezak

Leaders at the G20 meeting united in support of the Green Climate Fund

(Image: Andrew Taylor/G20 Australia)

Two weeks in a row. Last week the US and China agreed to cut their emissions. This week the world’s big economies have thrown their weight behind the Green Climate Fund – another shot in the arm for a world consensus on climate change action.

The fund is aimed at helping developing countries mitigate and adapt to climate change. It is seen as essential for getting such countries behind any agreement at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris next year.

At the G20 meeting in Brisbane, Australia, this week, the 20 big economies affirmed their support for the fund and the US and Japan together pledged a game-changing &dollar;4.5 billion, all in spite of the host country’s attempts to keep climate change off the agenda.

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The fund was established at COP16 in Cancun in 2010, in response to on-going demands from developing countries that wealthy countries help them decarbonise their economies and adapt to climate change.

An informal starting aim is to reach &dollar;10 billion before an official pledging ceremony in Berlin later this week, with an overall aim to raise &dollar;100 billion every year from 2020. Once up and running, the fund will help pay for sustainable development, mitigation and adaptation projects in the developing world.

Building trust

The final communiqué from the G20 reaffirmed the group’s support for the Green Climate Fund. But more significantly, the US promised a huge &dollar;3 billion and Japan quickly followed, offering &dollar;1.5 billion, taking the total funds promised to &dollar;7.5 billion. In addition, the UK is expected to pledge &dollar;1 billion.

In a statement, Héla Cheikhrouhou, Executive Director of the fund, said she expects that the support from the G20 will lead to countries that have not yet promised money to pledge contributions in Berlin.

“Funding is not only essential to help poorer countries build cleaner, climate-resilient economies,” says Jonathan Pickering from the Australian National University in Canberra, “substantial pledges are also symbolically important for building trust between wealthy and poor countries.”

“The Green Fund is very important because lower-income developing countries insist that rich countries make a financial contribution toward their climate change action,” says Frank Jotzo, also from the Australian National University. “Without it, success at the UN negotiations would be in danger.”

Pickering says it is likely that the &dollar;10 billion target will be met this week since there are a number of smaller countries that haven’t yet pledged but are likely to do so. In addition, countries like Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands may top up their pledges.

But Australia looks like it will not be contributing. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has claimed the fund is “socialism masquerading as environmentalism” and says the country has contributed enough to climate financing funds.